The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-02-14
REV. DIR. CROSBY ON WINE.

The Use of Beer In Solving the Temperance
ouestion-Interpreting the Scriptures.
New York star.
"Teetotalism?n said DR.. Crosby sharply. s'Do
I believe in teetotalsm! not only &c not be-
lere in it, but consider it my duty as Chris
risn minister and God fearing man to take a
resolute stand against it
And the Doctor. who for twenty -five years has
guided the destinies Of tho Fourth-avenue Pres
byterian Church. walked to and fro in his resi-
dence at No. 116 East Nineteenth street with the
air of a man very much in earnest
when / addressed the students at Rutgers
College yesterday" he continued. Il simply gave
ut4erance to views which | have privately ex-
pressed many times. | believe that those mem
bers of the Christian churches who are carrying
on the fanatical war against alcohol are not only
iniuring the cause of Christianity, but violating
the commands of Cad. Their platforms and
their methods of procedure are SO palpaDiy
wrong that / believe they are an important
cause Of driving people from the church and
making infidels of them
do you hold that the Bible advocates the use
of winean
Most certainly
''And in what placess
t'Ai through it, from beginning TO end. Why,
cur Savior made wine. He commanded it TO be
drunk every day, and ordained its at the
Eucharist 1t was intended to be used rs the
type of great spiritual idea. 1t is gift of God
to u.s. to be used reasonably, like all his other
gifts. The Christian against it is simply an
ecclesiastical arraignment of the Creator, who
gave it as blessing to man."
.Then you do not believe in the temperance
| pledeeW
| Not in the least It Is a wrong and useless
| idea. If pledge myself to pay man $780, or
| pledge myself to marry woman, it Is perfectly
| proper-an agreement entered into between
| man and man, or man and woman. But if /
| lift my hands on high, and pledge myself to God
that will never drink another drop OF alcohol,
| it seems to me that am simply self righteous;
/ that am assuming equality with God which
( fc, afof and cIraTY1
I'm addition to that, temperance pledges are
/ never kept Why, my old friend DR.. Payson. of
/ Third avenue, now deceased told ne that he
| had administered a great many pledges and that
| they were oftener broken than hold to. / am
/ opposed to the temperance pledge from both
| stand points"
''Then what is your position as regards the
| use of liquor2n
II believe in the reasonable use Of wine and
beer, of fermented liquors. / do not believe in
the OF distilled spirits. There is alcohol in
| wine and beer. to be sure. and the fanatics con
seauently decry it, calling out that alcohol is a
deadly poison. 1t is not poison. 1t is one OF
the most widely spread of compounds We find
it everywhere in food They might as we'll for
| bid me to eat peach because the prussie acid
| which helps to make up its exquisite flavor is 9
deadly drug when taken in quantity"
4 what is your idea OF its reasonable use2'
81 think every right-minded man settle
that for himself don't mean that man shall
sit down and drink seventeen or eighteen
schooners of beer at sitting. Even when he
does it is not the alcohol that hurts him. but the
swash. If should drink seventeen or eighteen
schooners of water, it would make me sick /
would turn me into water barrel and naturally
injure the tissues of my system But that il
due simply to the unreasonable quantity. Why
Moses Gibbons went before committee of tht
Legislature and declared that beer created tn,
worst kind of drunkenness don't believe It
I would like to every workingman IN TIL
country have his comfortable glass of beer a
, dinner. if he wants it, and don't believe any
body has the right to say he shall not have It"
sfYou do not believe then that the drinking o
wine and beer inculcates desire for stronge
J lquorsaa
mo, do not. believe that country whic
, drinks wine or beer does not drink whisky. be
} lieve that pure wine and good beer will spoil tn
sale of distilled spirits and drive them out Tha
is my solution of the temperance probiem
have used both wine and beer for many years
and have not experienced desire for anytnin
. stronger, and do not believe that am differ
ent in this respect from other men, | think
will be good thing for the country when GU
wira product is greatly increased, and a pure
healthy wine is within the reach Of all at sma
Q COST
. :.But does not the Scripture say that wine is
0 mocker and strong drink is ragings'
'Yes, and 1t says many other things OF sim
: lar purport but in every of them the con
: mand IS not against the use of wine. but II
abuse OF it. 1t is the excess that is sinful
$ docs the Bible require the use of unfermen
ed wine at the communionl
There is TO such thing as unfermented win
lot of nincompoops who don't know what the
L are talking about have discovered that there al
, two kinds Of wine referred to in the Scripture
u and have attempted to carry out the resultal
doctrine And they are the very people who ca
me Judas Iscariot and traitor TO the cause. ar
by other uncompiimentary titles. Why, all Il
4 fsrmsaese. Did not the Corinthian Christina